SOURCE: AFI
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is looking to significantly expand the scope of its flagship Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) scheme and has sought additional funds from the Finance Ministry to sustain and scale up the program. According to sources, the Department of Defence Production (DDP), which oversees the scheme, has already committed 90% of the funds allocated under the original budget for iDEX, signaling the scheme’s rapid uptake and success.
The iDEX initiative, which was launched with a budget of Rs 498.78 crore for the period 2021-22 to 2025-26, was designed to encourage innovation and technological development within India’s defense sector by supporting startups, MSMEs, and individual innovators. With the steady success of the program, the DDP has committed nearly Rs 450 crore to ongoing projects, exhausting most of the available funds.
Government officials have acknowledged that this success has highlighted the need for additional resources, including funds and manpower, to sustain the momentum and continue supporting new projects under the scheme. The MoD has requested an additional Rs 497.15 crore from the Finance Ministry to ensure that the program can continue without interruption and enable the signing of more contracts with iDEX winners.
Officials also noted that the program’s scalability hinges not only on financial resources but also on increasing its manpower and operational capacity. The MoD aims to significantly widen the scope of iDEX by supporting more projects and engaging with a larger pool of innovators in the coming years.
The iDEX initiative has already demonstrated its potential to transform India’s defense technology landscape by promoting self-reliance and innovation. The additional funding requested by the Ministry of Defence will allow the scheme to continue supporting breakthrough projects that have the potential to revolutionize military capabilities.